Case Study:
Wohlfahrt Intern

Customer

Röthig Medien Verlags GmbH & Co. KG, based in Berlin, is an independent specialist publishing house focused on the social economy sector. Founded by the experienced business journalist Iris Röthig – who also serves as managing director, publisher, and editor-in-chief – the publishing house and its dedicated team primarily target decision-makers and executives from major social welfare organizations. Alongside in-depth political, economic, and legal analyses, the publisher’s portfolio includes practical articles on digitalization, management, finance, and HR – always with a clear focus on the challenges faced by independent welfare organizations. Yearbooks and online content complement the offering and emphasize the company’s cross-media approach.

Project

Röthig Medien Verlags GmbH & Co. KG has been a long-standing presence in the market with their specialist magazine "Wohlfahrt Intern," offering both up-to-the-minute online reporting and regularly published print editions. Over time, the editorial content grew significantly, and the editorial and technical processes were mostly maintained and developed in-house. However, it became increasingly clear that the existing TYPO3-based infrastructure was reaching its limits, particularly regarding the integration of new features, performance, and long-term maintenance. Issues with the previous technical service provider included unreliable agreements, a lack of agility when implementing new ideas, and general communication problems.

Röthig Medien was therefore looking for a reliable partner who could not only drive technical modernization but also serve as a long-term consultant and supporter. Special emphasis was placed on creating a stable and future-proof technological foundation and streamlining editorial processes – all while preserving the magazine’s established look and feel and the familiar user experience.

Implementation

For "Wohlfahrt Intern," CosmoCode carried out a comprehensive refactoring and technical modernization of the TYPO3 system. The technical base was gradually updated from TYPO3 version 8 to version 12, resulting in a secure and high-performance infrastructure. Content, extensions, and interfaces were updated and migrated to modern development and deployment processes, with full version control.

Building on this stable and modern foundation, numerous new features tailored to the publisher’s needs were implemented.

A key challenge had been that transferring online articles into the print magazine, which is created using Adobe InDesign, was previously a manual task. Editors had to laboriously copy content from TYPO3 and paste it into InDesign templates, a process that was time-consuming and prone to errors. To significantly streamline this workflow, CosmoCode developed a special TYPO3 backend module that automates the export of news articles along with their associated images. Selected content can now be exported in XML format, together with relevant images as a ZIP file, and imported directly into InDesign. This automated solution significantly reduces manual effort, minimizes errors, and accelerates the production process for the print edition.

CosmoCode also replaced the outdated EXT:direct_mail extension for newsletters with the powerful in2code/luxletter solution, providing seamless TYPO3 integration, personalized mailings, and detailed tracking. Emails are sent via the external provider turboSMTP to ensure reliable and trustworthy delivery. The project team overcame technical challenges such as ensuring accurate newsletter rendering in different mail clients – especially Outlook – and integrating AdButler advertising banners.

Other implemented features include a paywall with individualized PDF exports featuring "moral copy protection", automated VG WORT integration with API-driven pixel tracking management, and extensive tracking of both content and newsletters. Editorial dashboards with custom widgets visualize key performance data for digital advertorials and newsletter campaigns. An additional Android app rounds out the cross-media offering. In parallel, SEO measures were implemented, such as a sophisticated OpenGraph setup to optimize social media sharing.

Thanks to a relationship built on trust, CosmoCode was able to sustainably meet the publisher’s requirements and respond flexibly to new challenges. As a reliable technology partner, CosmoCode continues to ensure stable operation and ongoing development of the platform – precisely tailored to the specific needs of a modern specialist publishing house.